B777 passenger jet crashed in Vietnam waters

Mar 08, 2014Vietnamese state media said a
Malaysian Airlines B777 passenger plane came down close to
Vietnam’s Tho Chu Island. At a press conference in
Beijing, representatives from Malaysia Airlines said no
wreckage has yet been found and they have deployed boats and
helicopters in the area to verify reports from the
Vietnamese Navy.

Malaysia Airlines said flight MH370 lost
touch with Subang Air Traffic Control around 02:40 local
time Saturday morning

The aircraft left Kuala Lumpur
International Airport at 00:41 and was expected to land in
Beijing at 06:30 local time (22:30 GMT).

Despite local
news reports, Vietnamese and Malaysian rescue crews have not
located the plane’s signal, but Hanoi believes the craft
disappeared in Vietnamese airspace.

The flight was
carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew
members, the airline said in a statement.

"Malaysia
Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have
activated their search and rescue team to locate the
aircraft," the airline added.

There were 14 nationalities
represented among the 227 passengers, according to airline
officials. Passengers include 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians,
seven Indonesians, seven Australians, five Indians, four
Americans, and one Russian, among others.

The passenger
manifest will not be released until all families of the
passengers have been informed. The flight was carrying a
total number of 239 passengers and crew – comprising 227
passengers (including 2 infants) and 12 crew members.

We
are deploying our “Go Team” to Beijing which will depart
Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 4.30pm with a team of
caregivers and volunteers to assist the family members of
the passengers.

The passengers are of 14 different
nationalities. All crew on-board are Malaysians.

“Our
team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and
crew,” Malaysia Airlines said in a further
statement.“Focus of the airline is to work with the
emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full
support.”

The last contact the plane had with air
traffic controllers was 120 nautical miles off the east
coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, the airline said
on Saturday. The pilot of the flight was 53-year-old
Malaysian national Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah who has logged
a total of 18,365 flying hours and has been working for
Malaysian airlines since 1981.

China is assisting Malaysia
Airlines with the search for the plane, Chinese state
television reported.

"We are very worried after learning
the news. We are trying to get in touch with relevant
parties to check it out," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin
Gang said in statement.

The flight was a codeshare with
China Southern Airlines.

Prior to July 2013's deadly crash
of an Asiana Airlines 777 in San Francisco, the aircraft had
been one of only a few long-range jets built by Boeing and
Airbus to have never recorded a fatality.

The 777 first
flew in 1994, and was introduced into commercial service in
1995. Boeing had delivered 1,100 of the aircraft around the
world as of last year.

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